Polyimide oligomer synthesis

Scheme 2. Polyimide Oligomer Synthesis 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION...

The process known as transimidization has been employed to functionalize polyimide oligomers, which were subsequentiy used to produce polyimide—titania hybrids (59). This technique resulted in the successhil synthesis of transparent hybrids composed of 18, 37, and 54% titania. The effect of metal alkoxide quantity, as well as the oligomer molecular weight and cure temperature, were evaluated using differential scanning calorimetry (dsc), thermogravimetric analysis (tga) and saxs. 

The copolymer synthesis was carried out in a three neck round bottom flask equipped with a mechanical stirrer, nitrogen inlet, thermometer and a condenser with drying tube. The stoichiometry was offset by using an excess of the polyimide oligomer. In every case, the calculated was 40,000 g/mole. The polyimide oligomer was dissolved in chlorobenzene and heated to -125 C. The amine terminated oligomer was added slowly and rinsed with chlorobenzene to bring the final reaction solids content to 15 percent. The reaction was stirred at -125 C for 2 hours. The solution was cooled to ambient temperatures and cast into films. The films were heated slowly in a vacuum oven and dried for at least 3 hours at 250°C. 

Oligomer Synthesis The polyimides reported herein were largely based on oxydiphthalic anhydride (ODPA), and the aromatic diamine bisaniline P (Bis P). The ODPA was provided by Occidental Chemical Company and the Bis P was provided by Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. Both were of high purity and used as received. 2-aminopyridine (2AP) was purchased from Aldrich and recrystdlized from a mixture of 75% (by volume)... 

Polyimides can be synthesized via a three-step procedure, the synthesis of a polyamic acid, conversion of the polycunic acid to a polyisoimide (a pol)dmide isomer), and conversion of the polyiso-imide to the polyimide (Eq. 4) [33, 34]. The polyisoimide solution is obtained by addition of a dehydrating agent, for example, N,N dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, to the polyamic acid solution, emd the conversion of the polyisoimide to the polyimide is performed at a lower temperature (about 200°C) than that used for conversion of polyamic acid to polyimide. As no water is formed in the conversion to the polyimide, the production is smooth. The thermosetting polyimide oligomer "Thermid PI-600" (Figure 7.4) [33] is prepared by the three-step procedure. 

The criteria for the thermally decomposable coblock include the synthesis of well-defined functional oligomers, compared with the synthesis of polyimide. This block must also decompose quantitatively into non-reactive species that can easily diffuse through a glassy polyimide matrix. The temperature at which decomposi-... 

The idea of synthesizing imide oligomers which carry acetylenic terminations appeared attractive because homopolymerization through acetylenic endgroups occurs without any volatile evolution and provides materials with good properties. Landis et. al (8,9) published the synthesis of such acetylene terminated imide oligomers from benzophenone tetracarboxylic anhydride, aromatic diamine and 3-ethynylaniline via the classical route. As usual, the amide acid is formed as an intermediate which, after chemical cyclodehydration, provides the polymide. Since ethynyl-terminated polyimide is used as a matrix resin for fiber composites, processing is possible via the amide acid, which is soluble in acetone, or via the fully imidized prepolymer, which is soluble in NMP. The chemical structure of the fully imidized ethynyl-terminated polyimide is provided in Fig. 44. 

The key to acetylene terminated polyimides is the availability of the end-capper which carries the acetylene group. Hergenrother (130) published a series of ATI resins based on 4-ethynylphthalic anhydride as endcapping agent. This approach first requires the synthesis of an amine-terminated amide acid prepolymer, by reacting 1 mole of tetracarboxylic dianhydride with 2 moles of diamine, which subsequently is endcapped with 4-ethynylphthalic anhydride. The imide oligomer is finally obtained via chemical cyclodehydration. The properties of the ATI resin prepared via this route are not too different from those prepared from 3-ethynylaniline as an endcapper. When l,3-bis(3-aminophenox)benzene was used as diamine, the prepolymer is completely soluble in DMAc or NMP at room temperature, whereas 4,4 -methylene dianiline and 4,4 -oxydianiline based ATIs were only partially soluble. The chemical structure of ATIs based on 4-ethynylphthalic anhydride endcapper is shown in Fig. 45. 

The traditional approach used in poly(imide-siloxane) synthesis is the reaction of aminopropyl-terminated dimethylsiloxane oligomers with aromatic dianhydrides and additional diamines (9-13). Typically, subambient temperatures and dipolar aprotic solvents are used. The resulting high-molecular-weight polyamic acid solution can be heated to effect imidization and solvent evaporation. This procedure is analogous to the synthetic method used to prepare conventional polyimides for films and coatings. 

Synthesis of Siloxane-Polyimide Elastoplastics. In a typical polymerization, a 5-L, three-neck, round-bottom flask equipped with an overhead mechanical stirrer, a Dean-Stark trap with condenser and a nitrogen inlet, and a thermometer was charged with 484.00 g (0.2406 mol) of D2o-DiSiAn, 41.61 g (0.431 mol) of mPD, 19.52 g (3 wt %) of 2-hydroxypyridine, and 2 L of o-dichlorobenzene. The mixture was warmed to 100 °C for 1 h to dissolve the monomers and the catalyst. The polyamic acids precipitated and then redissolved when the mixture was warmed to 150 °C for 2 h. To the oligomer solution was added 99.13 g of BPADA dissolved in 200 mL of o-dichlorobenzene. The mixture was maintained at 150 °C for an additional 2-h period to ensure incorporation of the dianhydride and then warmed to reflux. After approximately 100 mL of a solvent-water mixture had been removed, the solution was maintained at 180 °C for 40 h. The mixture was cooled to room temperature and diluted with 1 L of methylene chloride. Polymer was isolated from the solution by a slow addition of the polymer solution to 4 L of methanol. The resulting slurry was filtered, and the polymer was redissolved in 4 L of methylene chloride, extracted three times with 2 N aqueous HCl to remove catalyst, washed with water, dried with magnesium sulfate, reprecipitated into methanol as before, filtered, and dried in vacuo at 100 °C to obtain 522 g (85%) of a rubbery material with an IV of 0.50 dL/g. IR, NMR, and Si NMR spectroscopic analysis indicated the absence of amic acid functionalities that could be present if imidization is incomplete. 

The synthesis of siloxane-polyimide elastoplastics requires an approach slightly different from that used in preparing the thermoplastic materials because of differences in reactivity between the aliphatic-anhydride-terminated siloxane oligomers and the aromatic dianhydrides. A one-pot condensation of the anhydride-terminated siloxane oligomers, BPADA, and the diamine in o-dichlorobenzene solution in the presence of 2-hydroxypyridine as catalyst leads to a siloxane-deficient polyimide. To circumvent this deficiency, a two-step synthetic scheme was used in which the anhydride-terminated siloxane oligomers were first capped with an excess of the diamine. The aromatic dianhydride was then added to the resulting amic acid oligomeric mixture and warmed to complete imidization (Scheme IV). 

The solubility of the polyimide dictates, to a large extent, the synthetic route employed for the copolymerization. The ODPA/FDA and 3FDA/PMDA polyimides are soluble in the fully imidized form and can be prepared via the poly(amic-ac-id) precursor and subsequently imidized either chemically or thermally. The PMDA/ODA and FDA/PMDA polyimides, on the other hand, are not soluble in the imidized form. Consequently, the poly(amic alkyl ester) precursors to these polymers were used followed by thermal imidization [44]. For comparison purposes, 3FDA/PMDA-based copolymers were prepared via both routes. The synthesis of the poly(amic acid) involved the addition of solid PMDA to a solution of the styrene oligomer and diamine to yield the corresponding poly(amic acids) (Scheme 8). The polymerizations were performed in NMP at room temperature for 24 h at a solids content of -10% (w/v). Chemical imidization of the po-ly(amic-acid) solutions was carried out in situ by reaction with excess acetic anhydride and pyridine at 100 °C for 6-8 h. The copolymers were subjected to repeated toluene rinses in order to remove any unreacted styrene homopolymer. 

The synthesis of the polyimides (PI) is illustrated in Scheme 2. The polymerizations were conducted in a single "one pot" reactor, which minimizes solution transfer steps. Number average molecular weights, , of the oligomers were evaluated by end group analysis using from the integral ratio of the proton for 2AP, at... 

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